book picks

Thank you Sherry! You are a BIG help and Max adores you.Maria, mother of a 5 year-old boyFairfield, CT

Sherry, thank you so much for working with my girls for so long. Your kindness, thoughtfulness, insight and professionalism made our experience so meaningful. My husband and I appreciate all you have done for them. Let’s keep in touch. Thanks again.Mother of 3 and 5 year-old girlsGreenwich, CT

Sherry, thanks for giving us back our son. We are so grateful for everything you did for Ben and our family. Not seeing you every week makes me feel that something is missing… but we look forward to a summertime walk! We miss you,Nicole, mother of 2 year-old boy who was dismissed from therapyWestport, CT

Best Speech Therapy Apps for Early Intervention, “My PlayHome”

I’ve been asked to write an article on my favorite apps to use in early intervention speech therapy so I will share some of my favorites over the next few weeks.

First of all, typically I don’t use tablets and apps with my little clients under the age of 2 because I believe the research that says children that age learn better through three dimensional play, not screens.

Also I will admit I jumped on board when everyone was trying apps with their students as kids love games on a tablet and it provided a new way to deliver therapy. I’ve now heard from other colleagues that they also have pulled back a bit and found a balance between traditional therapy materials and apps.

That being said, here is my first review of “My PlayHome” by Shimon Young, a digital interactive dollhouse where kids can move from room to room or floor to floor, open a cupboard and pour themselves a bowl of cereal, fry an egg on the stove, get dressed, go to bed and pull up the covers, turn on the TV, pour drinks, take a shower, or move outside to ride on a tire swing. I’ve used it with 2 year-olds to work on naming single words as well as generating 2-word combinations. Kids 3 and 4 were fascinated with all the interactions available in each room, as well as the outside garden, practicing verbs as well as carrier phrases for their articulation goals, “She IS swinging,” “He IS driving the ship,” or “Mom IS watering the garden.” Each screen has several characters to drag into the room that become interactive–jump on the trampoline, get dressed, lie down in bed, sit in a chair or eat pizza. They provide a nice opportunity to work on pronouns too.